Bloomberg snags Halperin and Heilemann

5/4/14 11:46 AM EDT

"Game Change" co-authors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann have joined Bloomberg News, where they will spearhead a new, stand-alone politics site, sources at the organization told POLITICO on Sunday.

Halperin, Time magazine's senior political analyst, and Heilemann, the national affairs editor for New York Magazine, have both signed seven-figure contracts that will keep them with Bloomberg through the 2016 presidential election.

The moves, which are to be announced this week, reflect Bloomberg's growing desire to be seen as a serious player during the next presidential election cycle. As the authors of "Game Change" and its 2012 follow-up, "Double Down," Halperin and Heilemann have become synonymous with presidential politics.

Neither Halperin nor Heilemann responded to a request for comment on Sunday. Ty Trippet, a Bloomberg spokesperson, also did not respond to a request for comment.

Internally, the news has caused a mix of excitement and resentment among the existing Bloomberg News politics team, which just saw a reorganization of its Washington bureau. While the star power is a boon to the organization, the Halperin-Heilemann project threatens to eclipse their own coverage.

Bloomberg has been courting the two authors since as early as March, as previously reported by Capital New York.